Spring and Mockingjays

This is the view from my kitchen window. I love the almond tree in my back yard neighbor's back yard. It only looks like this for a couple of days before it becomes a riot of blossoms. I prefer the green buds with only a couple of flowers--its so very striking against the red of their house.

My yarn arrived this afternoon for my Mockingjay Socks. I'm not quite ready to start them...I need to finish my Peeta Socks and get the pattern to my testers, hopefully by tomorrow. Otherwise, I may not have the pattern published soon enough for the fans who want to knit them for the movie premiere next month.

But here is my lovely package from The Loopy Ewe. It was packaged so nicely~

This was my first order with this company and I am happy to say I will definitely order from them again in the future. They have an amazing selection of sock yarn, and the yarn arrived so fast! It shipped the same day I ordered it, and even with the post office being as slow as it is around here, I got it on Tuesday, after ordering it late Friday afternoon!

The inside of the package was just as fun.

I think my Mockingjay socks will look amazing. Here is a photo of the yarns and my most up to date design idea. As soon as I'm done with Peeta, these are going on the needles!

Tomorrow I will go over my next planned designs, I have so many things running through my head right now....I could spend several months just designing socks!

Until next time.

Today, I announced my next sock design, a mosaic knit color work stocking inspired by

Katniss Everdeen's Alter Ego--The Mockingjay

So now...I'm just waiting for my yarn to arrive. This sock will be knit in three colors--Black and White to represent the Mockingjay, and a rich blood red. The yarn I'll be using is Shibui Sock in colors Abyss, Cranberry, and Ivory ordered today from The Loopy Ewe. I chose Shibui Sock due to the wide range of available colors (I wanted a yarn with a white, red, and black in the same base) and the affordability. You can make this whole pair of socks for less than alot of artisan skeins cost, and you'll probably have some yarn left over.

Concept sketches and swatches to be posted soon.

Sock Design...and other obsessions

May the odds ever be in your favor....

SO I guess its good I don't have a lot of followers, as they would probably think I fell off the edge of the world. Its been a pretty busy year, adjusting to having an increasingly mobile toddler (who is sitting in my lap "helping" as I type this...)

So if you ARE reading this you might be wondering, what have I been up to lately? Well the easy answer is lots of knitting and lots of running.

Recently a friend suggested I read the Hunger Games. I wasn't familiar with the series at all, but she gave it a pretty good review and so I thought, why not? Well I read the entire series in less than a week (took me about 4 days). It was a good and memorable read. Inspirational enough to get my designer juices flowing in my brain again. And so, I began designing. Since my latest obsession has been knitting socks, I am designing socks for some of the characters from the Hunger Games.

If you're on Ravelry, you can go check out my Peeta Socks. They are the first socks in what I

hope will be a collection of socks. I am not sure if these will be a for sale sock or a free sock, but I am thinking having them as a really inexpensive sock pattern once it's been tested and I get the pattern written up properly.

Today I hope to make it to one of my LYS-es to find some yarn for the next sock in this

collection--Mockingjay. I also intend to design a lacy pair for Katniss' sister, Primrose, and something similarly delicate for Rue. Later I may also do one for Katniss that isn't mockingjay related.

I am also currently thinking of designing a series of socks for the Kim Harrison Hallows Series.

Al definitely needs a pair of socks, and I think Ivy, Jenks, and Rachel herself would also make great inspiration. We will see how the summer turns out and what I come home with from Stitches West this year.

COOKIE A CLUB SPOILER ALERT!!!!

If you are in the Cookie A Club for 2012 and haven't yet received your yarn, you may want to stop reading here. I am about to post a picture of our latest yarn.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This is my second year as a member of the Cookie A Sock Club, and this year, I'm a

moderator for her Ravelry group. Sadly, this doesn't mean I have any kind of special relationship with Cookie A

herself other than a working emailing one, but it's still pretty cool.

Anyhoo, the first recipes and patterns and cookies didn't disappoint. I now have a fortune cookie recipe, how cool is that? Also, I have a wonderful deep choco cookie recipe spiced with cinnamon and chili peppers. With a strong cup of coffee and a bit of homemade whipped cream these cookies are absolutely divine.

On the running front: I joined the LMJS women's racing

team and participated in their cross country events this past summer as part of their open team. I also reached new PR's in the Marathon(3hr 42min) and 12K (57min) distances. Yes, I am one speedy bunny. I am currently working for LMJS as a volunteer pacer for their Oakland Running Festival Training Program, training 1/2 marathoners for their even this March.

The picture on the left is from September, the team celebrated my birthday (and two other team mates) with cake after our 4mi run in Hayward.

Well this is it for me today, stay tuned for more updates on my current obsessions.